Activities and research

The staff at the department is able to professionally and responsibly perform its tasks covering the field of design, measurement and professional monitoring of telecommunications, radiocommunications, electronics and information-communications technologies.

The scope of activities involves a wide area of professional application to coding, transmission and quality of video materials, field strength calculation and measurement in mobile networks, PLD programming, design and implementation of supervisory control systems used in water, gas and energy distribution and production and, finally, web interfaces of supervisory control systems.

Circuit synthesis in the HF and LF domain – design and implementation,

Analysis of different networks in the time and frequency domain- behaviour determination, error identification and fault diagnosis,

Measuring the exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields in the frequency range from100KHz to 3 GHz,

Calculation of the field strength and SAR value related to human exposure to radiation ranging from 110 MHz to 40 GHz emitted by base stations and fixed terminal stations,

Quality of service and customer experience analysis in multimedia systems (videoconferences, IPTV, video on demand, etc.),

Following the Department’s scope of activities, a number of professional courses are performed within the framework of the lifelong learning programmes.

The Department is accredited to perform calculations and measurements of electromagnetic fields generated by radio and/or telecommunications terminal equipment. The Laboratory for HF Measurements is accredited for measuring radiation emitted by radio and/or telecommunications devices and for calculating the exposure to radio frequency (RF) fields.

The strategic direction of research at the Department of Communications involves the following: research and development of IP network infrastructure, design of wireless sensor networks, research into the quality of service in IP networks, research on adaptive antenna arrays, research on the procedure development of digital signal processing (DSP) in accordance with the advances in microelectronics technology, research on the methodology for still image, video and audio signal processing, research on the radio wave propagation and mobile multimedia systems.

The medium-term strategic plan includes harmonization of the study programmes with the current labour market requirements, redefinition and adaption of student workload in accordance with the ECTS and, ultimately, definition of the learning outcomes for each study programme organised by the Department. Furthermore, for the purpose of developing and improving the teaching process, the Department of Communications intends to increase the number of lifelong learning programmes in line with the needs and interests of the labour market and graduate professionals interested in the activities of the Department. One of the strategic goals is to improve international cooperation through joint projects with similar scientific institutions in the country and abroad. Joint scientific projects will form a basis for cooperation and mobility of researchers, teachers and partners. In order to increase the level of knowledge and competences, as well as to intensify international cooperation and to establish a network of partners, it is desirable for young researchers to spend some time on prestigious international institutions during or after the preparation of their doctoral dissertations. Existing national funds and EU programmes (e.g. UKF fund, Erasmus, Tempus, FP7, Horizon 2020, as well as regional projects like SEE ERANET, IPA, etc.) serve as a framework for international cooperation.

The Department is active within a given socioeconomic and social environment, which makes cooperation with the economy, conveyance of knowledge and innovation, as well as technology transfer and social development an important strategic goal of the Department. Cooperation with the economy is established through joint projects, scientific and professional lectures, knowledge and innovation transfer and lifelong learning programmes. It should be emphasised that Siemens, Erics-son Nikola Tesla, HAKOM, NTH, VIP Net, T-HT, Metronet, Optima, HRT, Television of Slavonia and Baranja etc., are our very important strategic partners.

Furthermore, another strategic goal that has to be mentioned involves professional activities concerning protection against electromagnetic fields and measurement, calculation and estimation of high frequency electromagnetic fields. Due to research and technological purposes, the Laboratory for HF Measurement was founded and accredited in accordance with the norm HRN EN ISO/IEC 17025:2006.

The accreditation confirms the laboratory’s independence and competence. Also, it enables authorised measurements of HF electromagnetic radiation in sensitive areas (kindergartens, schools...), risk of professional exposure to radiation, measurement and calculations of the spatial distribution of electromagnetic field created by radio systems, base station calibration. Finally, it paves the way for cooperation with similar institutions dealing with the effects of electromagnetic radiation.

Specific goals of the Department are in line with the strategic goals of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, whose final goals include integration into the European Higher Education Area, increase of competitiveness in the global environment with special attention paid to innovations, development of new methods of knowledge and technology transfer to the economy.

The specific goals are to be fulfilled through stronger bonds with renowned international research and professional institutions, and especially with Croatian scientists working in those institutions.

Some of the strategic research areas at the Department of Communications include the following:

Research and development of a multimedia data transmission system over short distances based on an advanced radio network,

Advancement of activities carried out by the Laboratory for HF Measurements,

Research and development of radio-based localisation systems,

Research and development of methods and procedures for determining the quality of living space with respect to electromagnetic pollution,

Research into design methods of new microelectronic circuit structures resistant to external interference and suitable for high frequency operation; research on the properties of 3D electronic components enabling higher packing density and following the scaling of the existing technology gradually leading to transition to nanotechnology,

Development, analysis, modelling and application of new semiconductor technologies based on new types of semiconductor materials (SiC, SiGe, organic semiconductors, etc.),

Research into self-powered radio-frequency identification (RFID) devices, improvement of alternative power supply methods from surrounding space and the development of 2D and 3D sensors. Research on improved microelectronic circuit solutions for analogue RF front-end of software-defined RF receivers: low noise RF amplifiers, local oscillators with adaptive frequency and mixer circuits,

Research into the application of electronics in medicine,

Research on the broadband Internet access and Internet services in rural areas,

Research and development in the area of wireless sensor networks technology,